


Happily Ever After Never Ends

by JosephThropp



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Anxiety Disorder, F/M, Family Fluff, Flashbacks, Happy Ending, Panic Attacks, Post-Canon, Reminiscing, Set 5 Years After Future, Slice of Life, Steven is 21 and Connie is 20
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:06:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24013306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JosephThropp/pseuds/JosephThropp
Summary: Steven Universe, Age 21.Five years after setting out from Beach City, and 3 years after finding a general area he wants to call home, Steven has also found a space he can call his own. A tiny little mountain town in the state of Ankärr, situated in the Arapaho Mountains. A housewarming party with the Gems and Connie is one of the first things he wants to do after moving in.
Relationships: Amethyst & Steven Universe, Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe, Garnet & Steven Universe, Pearl & Steven Universe
Comments: 6
Kudos: 34





	Happily Ever After Never Ends

**Author's Note:**

> I promise I wanna do more stories beyond just SU stuff but ever since it ended I haven't had anyone to talk to about it so my brain has been generating nothing but SU thoughts that I just end up writing down. Please understand.

“Ugh, could Steven have picked a house any further out from like, society?”

“Now, now, Amethyst—We’re going to be encouraging and enthusiastic about Steven’s new home!” Pearl idly laid a hand on Amethyst’s shoulder as they walked, shooting her a smile that couldn’t quite hide some worry in her eyes. “It doesn’t matter that he’s permanently settling down nearly 2000 miles away from us! No distance will ever tarnish the bonds we’ve forged for 21 years now, not one bit!” 

Clearly, her confident front wasn’t very convincing. Garnet quickly offered some assurance. “It’s alright, Pearl. Steven’s already been living here in Ankärr for three years now, and he traveled for two years prior to that. We’ve been diligently keeping in touch all this time, and that’s not about to change.” 

“This is different, though! Steven’s not just traveling, or sharing a home with however many other people, this is his own house! He’s becoming…” Pearl sighed and reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose, deflating a bit. “...independent.” 

“Man, I’m gonna miss that dumb house of his with all those roommates.” Amethyst blew a little bit of hair out of her eyes as she looked up and thought back on the space Steven had just left behind. Of course they knew that wasn’t any kind of forever home for him, but it was a little sad to see it go after three years. “Remember when that one with the weird hair called poison control when I drank their nail polish?” 

The high-pitched little giggle Amethyst gave had Pearl frowning in response. “Of course we remember. Steven tried to have us reserve some space at Little Homeworld because he thought you were going to get him kicked out. He was lucky that Garnet stepped in and advocated a little.” 

The fusion in question cracked her knuckles audibly, grinning a bit. “I can be very persuasive.” 

Even knowing that Garnet would never go to the lengths of hurting a human over a housing dispute, Pearl couldn’t help but shake her head at that implication. “On second thought, maybe it’s for the best that Steven finds a new space. One where we precipitate less drama.” 

“Maybe. Still a boring spot though.” While her fellow gems didn’t necessarily agree with Amethyst’s very blunt sort of analysis, it was at least an understandable one. Beach City was already a quiet enough place outside of its popular tourist season, but this small mountain town had it beat handily in terms of relaxed and easy atmosphere. The fact that the gems had only seen a single grocery store and gas station since entering was definitely indicative of the fact that this little spot was hardly metropolitan. 

That being said, there was something to admire about that. Different as it was from their own seaside home, there was an undeniable charm to this new environment. Garnet regarded the many pine trees dotting the area with a smile. “It’s nice. Quiet. Quiet might be good for Steven after so much excitement in his life.” It was hard to argue with her analysis on that front. 

“Well if the little man really wants to listen to bugs and get attacked by bears in some mountain far away from everyone else, he’s earned it.” 

“It might be time to drop the ‘little,’ Amethyst. He was already taller than you when he left, and we don’t know if he’ll stop growing like a normal human would have by his age.” Pearl took a small amount of pleasure in pointing that out. There was never a meeting they had where she _didn’t_ love to use the quartz as a point of reference for Steven’s growth. 

The groan that earned her was loud enough to draw the attention of everyone around as the three gems walked by, if the fact that there were three strange gems walking around the town didn’t already do that. “Literally don’t remind me of that, P. If that kid gets any taller, I’m gonna have to ask the Diamonds to hook me up with some limb enhancers again. He needs to chill out and stop eating for a year or something. Like, we get it already! You’re all big and tough now, Steven!” 

“And what good that’s doing for him, working with weddings! And the human kind, at that!” Pearl laughed aloud, as tickled as ever by what Steven was doing with his life. Perhaps a continued affinity for all things romantic could’ve been expected, but Steven committing to a path of organizing matrimony was something that none of them would’ve seen coming. “Humans can be very picky about all the little details at those ceremonies, it’s a marvel he can manage it all.” 

“Connie’s organizational skills have had a profound impact on him. Their paths are as intertwined as ever.” Of course, trying to peg down just where either Connie or Steven’s futures were headed was beyond even Garnet’s future vision. So many variables determined by their spontaneity and their ability to change meant she hadn’t been able to keep a strong grasp on their track for quite some time. 

“Yeaaaahhhhh, I guess she’s been pretty cool for him. Girl got that Lion whipped into shape like nobody’s business!” That went without saying. Under Connie’s ownership during Steven’s travels, and in the first few years of making his new home, the once lackadaisical feline was now a well-trained companion. The fact that he was being summoned and creating warps on her command was nothing short of astounding after more than three years of heeding no whim but his own. 

Impressive as it was, each of the gems understood that the sudden investment in getting Lion trained wasn’t done just for the sake of doing it. “We owe a lot to her for that. Lion was instrumental in getting someone to Steven when he needed it most.” Garnet sounded a little off as she spoke, reflecting an unspoken thought they’d each felt in regards to the subject. 

Pearl and Amethyst certainly wouldn’t argue with her point. Warp pads were useful, but there were only so many of them. Depending on where in the country Steven had been while he traveled, he could’ve been miles from the nearest one at any given time. Lion was their solution to that, being unconstrained by location as far as his own warps were concerned. If he could create a warp to the moon and come out just a little winded, warps between states were thankfully a comparative breeze. 

Even so, the thought brought back a few memories that had each gem suddenly feeling a little pensive. It went without saying, but they were each confronted with recollections of sudden calls and texts they’d received over the past half-decade. Often late in the evening, with increasing frequency in the winter. Never predictable, but always coming only when Steven knew they weren’t busy at Little Homeschool, well-acquainted with their schedules and never being willing to try and disrespect that. 

* * *

_“Steven, what’s up? You okay, dude?”_

_“Amethyst, I need to talk to you.” Even if the video chat didn’t show Amethyst that Steven was entirely pink and had one hand plastered against his face, obscuring one half of it, the broken sound of his voice was more than enough for her to deduce that he was far from okay. “I need someone. Anyone. Connie’s out of the country visiting her aunt and—”_

_Steven’s hand was pushed aside as the side of his face suddenly expanded, the pink glow cast on his surroundings growing even brighter. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I can’t stop! I don’t know why! I was doing fine this morning!”_

_Amethyst recoiled a bit in shock. “Steven! Where are you?! What’s the state?” She turned away from the phone, looking back to Pearl and Garnet who’d been listening in from the kitchen. “You guys! Get the map, we gotta’ go!” She turned back to the screen, shooting a serious expression at Steven through the call. “Just tell us where you are, we’ll be there right away!”_

_“It’s—” Another sudden swell and a sob interrupted the thought, expanding Steven’s chest until his face wasn’t even visible. This bout lasted even longer than the one on Steven’s face, leaving Amethyst able to do nothing but wait until this too had passed. It was a painful and tense wait until his chest receded, with Steven’s face reappearing with fat little tears rolling down his cheeks. “I can’t—!”_

_“Yes, you can!” What in particular he could or couldn’t do, Amethyst wasn’t really sure. It was more of a general affirmative statement, rather than a direct answer. What he_ **did** _need to do, though, was tell her where the hell he was. “Steven, you gotta’ do your stuff! Count your breathing or whatever! Exercise your ground!”_

_It was on instinct that Steven began to comply, already starting to draw some ragged breaths in. He seemed to pause as he did, as if suddenly considering what Amethyst had really said. Exercise your ground…? After a moment, he actually cracked the smallest of smiles. That grew into an uncomfortable half chuckle after a moment, even as he continued to cry. “Grounding exercise.”_

_“Yes, that! The thing where you count or look around and it turns your brain off for a second!”_

_That was absolutely not how Steven’s therapist described it, or probably any therapist. Whatever, didn’t matter. All that mattered was that Steven started to comply, fighting the urge to crumple into more sobs in order to catch his breath. If he could stop hyperventilating, he could sort out the cacophony of thoughts in his head. If he could sort out his thoughts, he could speak up about where he was. Then they’d be here, and they would help him. It would be better._

_Internally, Steven began to observe his surroundings in conjunction with his breathing. “I-I’m in the Dondai. There’s a tiny crack in the windshield where a pebble flew up and hit it last week. I forgot to recycle that plastic container in the passenger seat from when I bought that muffin.” That was just yesterday morning. Things were so good then. Why did he have to start falling apart again so soon?_

_There were a few more things Steven observed, but he’d moved to internal observations. Thinking more as he continued looking around him. Past the Dondai’s windows, into the parking lot it was in. Up to the front of the bed and breakfast he hadn’t even checked into yet. “It’s a little cabin in Georgeland. It’s off Marianne Road and Baltic Boulevard. I haven’t even gone inside.”_

_“Georgeland! Marianne Road and Baltic Boulevard!” Amethyst repeated the location as soon as it had been spoken, dashing over to the kitchen where Pearl was furiously typing the info into her phone._

_“I’m looking it up right now!” Steven could hear the resoluteness in Pearl’s voice even through the phone, and how it was definitely masking some underlying anxiety. “It’s in the southeast corner of the state!”_

_“There’s a warp not far, just north of that area, by the downed gem ship. We can be there in under 20 minutes.” Garnet’s voice was measured and calculated as her pointer finger came to rest on the point on the map in question where they’d placed one of the many stickers that signified the locations of warp pads. It was a project they’d worked on after they’d struggled the first time with trying to locate Steven when something like this had happened. It was easier to form a plan with a visual on where Steven and the warp pads were in relation to one another._

_The camera whirled around on the Gems’ end, focusing again on the image of the three of them standing in front of the door to the temple. Definitely on the warp pad. “Sit tight, man! Don’t move, okay?” Amethyst’s smile was just a little too wide to be believable, but something of a comfort all the same._

_“We’ll be there very soon, Steven! Just keep breathing!” Pearl appeared in the frame as she leaned in over Amethyst’s shoulder to offer her own painfully broad smile. “We’re going to lose the signal when we warp, but Amethyst will call you right back once we’ve touched down again! Please,_ **_please_ ** _answer when she does, okay?”_

_It was important that Steven stay on the phone with them, obviously. He knew what they were thinking. What might happen if they were out of touch for even a few minutes. The idea that they thought of him as so fragile and unstable was disappointing, even if it wasn’t unfounded. A brief intrusive thought encouraged him to abandon the phone and his car and wander off in some random direction just to scare them. He was able to breathe his way into realizing what a bad impulse decision that would be, though._

_Finally, he gave a nod, sniffling a little while he braced himself to keep up his efforts until they arrived. “Okay. Thank you.”_

* * *

Since those days, the gems had all gotten a lot better with the specifics of how to actually help Steven. They weren’t anywhere near as vague on terms and genuine techniques that Steven had picked up from his therapist. That was encouraging as far as where they were at today, but it also made memories of their past attempts that much harder to look back on. Back from a time where they faking it a whole lot more than they were nowadays. 

“I know it’s been like, a whole year since Steven’s had a really bad time with his stuff, but…” Amethyst was the first to break the silence, looking back up at the mountains they’d hiked down from. “I’m glad he’s got his own place, and that it’s close to that warp pad in the Arapaho Mountains. Maybe that’ll make it easier to come and visit a little more. We could just stop by for a night here and there when he’s not neck deep in wok.” 

“It would definitely be easier without having to accommodate for his travel times, proximity to warp pads, or trying to find a suitable public space.” Pearl mused on the possibility a bit as she folded both hands over her chest. That really did sound nice. “I think we’d all be happy to see Steven a little more in person, and less through a screen.” 

“We’ll see what happens. Easier to do or not, Steven will still be busy with all his personal matters. Respecting that has to come first.” Garnet was obviously no less eager for any chance to see Steven more, but she remained pragmatic nonetheless. 

Given how Pearl and Amethyst’s shoulders visibly slumped a bit, she was sure that wasn’t quite what they’d wanted to hear. No time to dwell on that now, though. “Come on, you two. Keep your eyes up and look out for the address. We’re getting close now. 

* * *

“Three...two...ah! Here we are! Number one two zero one! Do you think this is the place?” 

Amethyst had to keep herself from groaning aloud. “Pearl, you don’t have to keep checking the address. Lion is _literally_ asleep on the porch right in front of us!” 

“Hmm? Oh! Well, so he is!” Pearl’s eyes honed in on said feline as she looked up from her phone, having been referencing Steven’s address ever since the numbers on the houses had started getting close. He didn’t take any notice in return, content to keep snoozing away even as the vibrations of the gems’ footsteps ran through the boards beneath him when they walked up onto the porch 

“Sup, dude? How you like the new digs?” Amethyst made an attempt to engage Lion as Garnet knocked at the door, turning to face him and kneeling down to get on his level. 

Lion didn’t wake. He only rolled a bit in his sleep until he was partially on his back with his paws up in the air, giving off a heavy yawn. 

“Ugh. Same, man. I feel that.” 

The front door opening drew the attention of all three gems away from Lion, all eyes suddenly shifting to the man in the doorway. Steven’s grin was about wide as it could reasonably be, and his eyes all but sparkled as he took in the sight of three people he’d definitely been wanting a visit from for way too long. 

“You guys are finally here! That warp really must be close, you texted me that you were heading out just a little bit ago!” Steven was quick to move in for a hug, wrapping all four of them up in a tight embrace. It had gotten to the point where Amethyst would always dangle and hang off the others in these group hugs, but she was more than content to endure any teasing that might get her in exchange for moments like these. 

“Oh, Steven! It’s wonderful to see you! We really wished we could’ve helped you with the move in, but with classes it just—” Pearl was cut off with a wave of Steven’s hand as he was quick to dismiss her concerns. 

“Aw, forget that. I know you guys are as busy as ever with Yellow reconstructing more gems everyday. Still hard to believe so many of them wanted to live on Earth considering they were either prototypes for a weapon that was gonna get buried inside the planet, or an actual part of that weapon.” Steven backed off from the embrace with a sigh, as perplexed by the logistics as ever. He was glad to have taken a step back from gem stuff before all that got underway. “ Are you guys still facilitating the recovery of all the shards?” 

“A few million down, a few million to go!” Amethyst confirmed with a thumbs up. “Peri and the Diamonds handle all the nerd junk on how to pull them out without accidentally blowing everything up.” 

“That’s what I like to hear!” Steven smiled at the good news, reminding Pearl of a promise she’d made before they’d left. 

“Oh, Steven! I almost forgot, I promised Greg I’d get a photo of you and the house while he’s on his tour!” Pearl held up her phone yet again as she took a few steps back off the porch, attempting to get a good view of the home and Steven in the frame. 

“Oh boy, if I’d known we were gonna get right into the pictures I would’ve at least worn something decent!” He didn’t need much to feel like he was presenting his best self, but it was a little harder for Steven to do so in nothing but a tank top and sweatpants. Standard wear for his quiet days off, maybe not the best for having company. “I should probably change at some point before Connie gets here.” 

Amethyst chuckled as she and Garnet stepped aside, moving to join Lion at the end of the porch while Pearl got her shot. “Nah, man! I say leave it, this outfit really speaks to me. The yellow of your tank top, so reminiscent of a banana! It’s too beautiful!” She looked away for a moment and placed a hand over her chest, putting on an air of mock astonishment. 

“And grey sweatpants are the mark of a hard worker,” Garnet echoed the sentiment, while her gaze fell to Steven’s bare feet. “And also pink toenails.” 

“Hmm? Oh, yeah. I almost forgot about those,” Steve looked down to his feet once Pearl had finally gotten her shot and rejoined them on the porch. “Connie and I got bored on a break from moving furniture a few nights ago. She was feeling creative.” 

“And speaking of pink, that’s not the only new addition!” Pearl’s voice lilted in excitement as she returned her phone to her gem, only to reach out and turn Steven’s head to the side with one hand. Her other hand came up to rest on his earlobe, tenderly circling the stud pressed firmly into the center of it. “Look at these pink stars! Oh, they look so good on you!” 

Having not noticed them before, Amethyst immediately gasped aloud once Pearl had pointed the earrings. She bounded over, clinging to Steven’s shoulder as she examined the star-shaped stud in the ear that Pearl wasn’t observing. _“What?!_ No way, when did you get cool enough to do piercings?” 

“Another Connie suggestion,” Steven admitted with a sheepish grin. Just a few short months since their last visit, but there was apparently a lot to talk about. “She was all excited about finishing once we got the last box unpacked. More piercings was her idea of a celebration.” 

Pearl’s brow furrowed a bit. “ _More_ piercings?” 

Steven froze up a bit as his choice of words was repeated back to him, going a bit wide-eyed as what he’d implied seemed to be sinking in. “Uh…” Thankfully, there was a quick and easy subject for deflection available to him. “Hey, what about you guys? Pearl, Amethyst, new forms? What’s the story there?” 

“Aw, dang, I forgot you haven’t seen these yet! Pretty great, right?” Amethyst relinquished her hold on Steven in order to hop down and strike a pose, highlighting the new form she was particularly proud of. 

While she’d kept her white boots and cut-off jean shorts, Amethyst had opted for an entirely new top with that latest reformation. She now took on the look of a long-sleeved black top, with an off the shoulder style and a deep v that exposed the entirety of her gem. “Been a few years since I did the whole sleeve thing, thought it was time for these bad boys to make a comeback.” 

“Looking stylish. How’d you poof this time?” 

“Tried to run a Little Homeschool class on turning old destabilizers into tuning forks. Probably should’ve work-shopped that one a bit more.” 

“Probably. Just make sure you at least get that part down before trying to recycle any old rejuvenators.” Steven chuckled before turning back to Pearl, looking at her form with an appraising eye. “What about you, Pearl? You’re usually good about being careful.” 

Pearl, by comparison, hadn’t changed nearly as much. Her blue jacket had been replaced with a mint bolero with sleeves that ended on her forearm, while her inner layer sported a slight sweetheart cut instead of the small v it had before. She didn’t seem nearly as enthused about the new forms, crossing her arms and looking to Amethyst with a look of exasperation. “I was going to help with her demonstration by matching the tuning fork’s pitch.” 

“Ah, of course. I’m surprised I even had to ask.” As busy as he was these days, Steven was so happy for the simple opportunity to just laugh about antics like this. There wasn’t nearly as much levity in his line of work, and Connie would be the first person to admit that her field of study could lead to some painfully boring stories. Next to all the typical parts of his day to day, these funny stories only seemed that much more enjoyable. It appealed to the sense of nostalgia he’d been feeling hit pretty hard by recently, moving into his own space like he hadn’t done since he was just a kid. 

“Ooh, look at everything that’s going on back here!” Amethyst was quick to get right back into marveling over Steven’s appearance, and just when he thought they might be done. She circled around him and grabbed at one of the many ringlets hanging down his back, pulled tightly into a ponytail. “The man bun is no more! You finally letting it all hang loose now, Steven?” 

Wincing a bit as his hair was taken into Amethyst’s hand, Steven reached back to grip the base of his ponytail to alleviate some of the discomfort. “Ow! Amethyst, come on, no pulling.” He shot a glare at the quartz until she finally acquiesced, releasing his lock with an impish grin. “I need to ask Connie to teach me how to do the bun and the braids again. They’re hard, and she’s so much better with the hair stuff than me.” 

“Probably because she lived with long hair earlier than two decades into her lifespan.” Pearl couldn’t resist sneaking in a little snark, snorting as Steven all but pouted in response. 

“It’s been ‘Connie’ this and ‘Connie’ that ever since we’ve arrived. I think she’d better hurry up, someone here is missing her quite a bit.” Another little tease from Garnet, but one that obviously came from a place of love for all things love. Also an admittedly fair analysis, not that Steven needed to say that aloud for it to be obvious. 

“Connie will be here in a little bit. She’s doing her classes, or an assignment, or tennis stuff, or maybe all three. She works so hard.” Steven placed a hand against his cheek and gave a small, lovestruck sigh, sending a brief thank you to the stars for the marvelous gift he’d been given in the form of Connie Maheswaran. “We planned this out in advance, though. She’ll definitely be here in time for dinner.” 

“Aw, _heck_ yeah! What’s dinner gonna be?” Amethyst pushed past Steven into the house, already scoping out the area for a potential entrance to the kitchen. “Come on, Steven! I’m starving here!” She put on a painfully bad Italian accent as she turned back to him, wearing an expression of barely-concealed anguish. 

Steven entered the house alongside Pearl and Garnet, closing the door behind them. “It’ll be just a bit, Amethyst. The Thai butternut squash curry is in the slow cooker, and the veggies skewers are in the oven.” 

“Back in the vegetarian timeline, then?” Garnet asked, adjusting her visor a bit. 

“Yep, back into it for now. Priyanka gave me a great vegetable tikka masala recipe when I ran out of chicken, and it was so good I ate nothing but that for like, a week!” For as much as Doug was definitely the best Maheswaran in the kitchen, Priyanka’s collection of recipes was certainly impressive. “After that I started experimenting with more vegetables and recipes, and I just fell back into it!” 

“Dang, first name basis with Dr. Maheswaran! That only took you eight years!” Amethyst chuckled as she walked further into the open entrance, which Steven had styled into a general living area. She didn’t hesitate to launch herself onto the couch situated there, happy to lounge as she awaited the opportunity to stuff her face. “Looks like times are a-changin’!” 

Steven crossed the room to join her on the couch, taking up the unoccupied cushion at the far end. “Well, if we’re gonna talk about change, you guys gotta update me on everything that’s new in Beach City. Dad’s tour is going well?” 

“He should be landing in Japan in just a few hours, according to his last text.” Pearl joined the others in taking a seat, perching herself delicately on a small armchair opposite the couch that Steven and Amethyst were on. “Sadie and Shep are excited to be going overseas for the first time.” 

“I bet! I mean, it’s Japan! Connie and I have been jealous ever since dad told me about it!” Steven leaned his face into his hands, envy written all over his expression. “Closest I’m gonna get to Japan these days is visiting Ronaldo’s Japanese import store.” 

For whatever reason, that seemed to catch Amethyst’s attention. She suddenly flung herself up, waddling towards Steven on her knees until she was tightly gripping his arm. “Ooh, ooh, you remember Jane?” 

“Of course, Ronaldo’s girlfriend. What about her? Is Ronaldo finally wifing her up?” 

That earned Steven a round of giggles from each of the gems, causing him to look around to each of them in confusion. Even Garnet couldn’t resist a little snort as she walked up behind the couch. “There’s not going to be any ‘wifing’ between the two of them any time soon.” 

“Wait, what? Did they break up? Aww, that’s so sad, they were a great couple!” Steven crossed his arms and gave a sad little huff, dismayed at the news. It seemed like it was just yesterday that Ronaldo had moved out, followed by the two of them moving in. It had been all over his blog. “When did you guys get so mean, anyway? I mean, yeah, Ronaldo can super extra. But that’s no reason to—” 

“Steven, they’re not broken up! This is way better!” Amethyst cut Steven off with a quick tap on his shoulder, continuing to giggle even as he looked at her with perplexion written all across his features. “Jane came out last month! Homeboy hacked his mop off, got himself a new wardrobe, and is living his best life!” 

For a moment, things still didn’t quite register for Steven. “Came out? But I thou—” He stopped as realization suddenly hit him. Stars shone in his eyes and he gripped his cheeks, suddenly overcome with excitement. “ _Ooooooh!_ Oh my gosh, mazel tov! I _have_ to congratulate him!” Steven nearly squealed as he pulled from his pocket, searching for Ronaldo’s contact. He’d never gotten to know Jane well enough to get his number, maybe he’d have to change that. “Do you know if he’s going by something new yet?” 

“He’s still thinking on new names. Meanwhile, Ronaldo is looking for a new nickname to replace _ohime-sama_.” Pearl gave a light little chuckle. If someone had told her just 1000 years ago that she’d be this charmed by the novel romance of some young humans, she wouldn’t have believed them. Especially in regards to Ronaldo Fryman. Yet, somehow, here they were. 

Garnet laid a hand on Steven’s shoulder from behind the couch, reassuring him when his face fell slightly. “Give him about a week. Also, you should really go check on your food.” 

_Oh, crap._ They’d gotten so wrapped up in catching up, Steven had entirely forgotten about dinner! It was a good thing he hadn’t left anything on too high of a heat. Just a small precaution to make sure that it would stay nice and warm for whenever Connie could make it. Still, it was important he kept an eye on the skewers in case he needed to flip them. 

“Ah, you’re right! Thanks Garnet.” Steven rose from the couch quickly, turning to face the gems while he slowly backed out of the room. “If you guys wanna take a look around, feel free! Upstairs has the master bedroom, master bathroom, and the office. Everything else is down here. Just give me a few minutes and I’ll be right back!” 

With that, he finally turned and dashed for the kitchen, leaving the gems in the sitting room. They stared after him with fond expressions. 

“He’s grown so much.” Pearl reached up to run a hand across her face, wiping away an errant tear. 

“He hasn’t changed a bit.” Amethyst gave a soft little laugh, one that sounded bittersweet even with such a big smile on her face. 

“I think both those things are true.” Garnet capped off their reactions as she reached up to remove her visor for a moment. True to form, her visor was the one thing concealing the depth of the pride etched onto her face. “He’s still Steven Universe, but he’s as happy as he deserves to be.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! You can find me @josephthropp on both twitter and tumblr if you wanna chat about whatever! The former is currently broken because twitter is a perfectly functional website but I'm working on getting it fixed.


End file.
